share

Are You Compulsive About Texting & Driving? Survey Says...You Could Be

Expert on Tech Addiction Says Issue Cuts Straight to the Brain

AT&T DriveMode® App, Now Available for iPhone, Helps Fight the Temptation

DALLAS, Nov. 5, 2014— If the ring, beep or buzz of your cell phone triggers an intense urge to respond, and you find yourself reaching for the phone – even when you’re driving – you’re not alone.

A new survey commissioned by AT&T* and Dr. David Greenfield, founder of The Center for Internet and Technology Addiction and Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at The University of Connecticut School of Medicine, found that twice as many people as self-reported cell phone addiction are showing compulsive phone behaviors – with three-in-four people admitting to at least glancing at their phones while behind the wheel.

“We compulsively check our phones because every time we get an update through text, email or social media, we experience an elevation of dopamine, which is a neurochemical in the brain that makes us feel happy,” says Dr. Greenfield. “If that desire for a dopamine fix leads us to check our phones while we’re driving, a simple text can turn deadly.”

The study, fielded as part of the Texting & Driving … It Can Wait® campaign, was released as AT&T focuses on helping people find ways to resist the urge to text and drive at a potentially deadly moment of temptation.

The AT&T DriveMode** app for iPhone is now available on the App Store – making it the first free no-texting-while-driving application offered by a major U.S. wireless carrier that works on the iPhone. The app is easy to use. It silences incoming text message alerts, turns on automatically when one drives 15 MPH or more and turns off shortly after one stops. When activated, it automatically responds to incoming SMS and MMS text messages so the sender knows the text recipient is driving. It also allows parents with young drivers to receive a text message if the app is turned off.

The It Can Wait campaign is working with celebrities to help drive adoption of a new social shorthand, “#X.” You can use it in social media, text or email to signal to others that you’re pausing the conversation before you drive, and that you’ll get back to them when you arrive safely at your destination.

The survey included some startling revelations about how our attachment to our mobile phones can lead us to use them when we’re driving – even when we know we shouldn’t.

While over 90 percent say they know texting and driving is dangerous, many rationalize their texting-and-driving behavior—a classic sign of addiction, according to Dr. Greenfield. Nearly three-in-ten said they can easily do several things at once, even while driving. “However, many objective studies show that’s not possible,” says Dr. Greenfield.

According to the research, those who are most likely to text and drive are also the most likely to take steps to stop. And 82 percent of people who take action to stop texting and driving feel good about themselves.

It Can Wait is making a difference. The campaign has inspired more than 5 million pledges to never text and drive, and more than 1.8 million downloads of the Android and Blackberry versions of the DriveMode app. But more work needs to be done to help end texting while driving.

The AT&T DriveMode app is available for free on the App Store for iPhone or at www.AppStore.com.

*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.

**Compatible device required. Functionality varies by operating system. Auto-Reply feature is available for AT&T postpaid customers only. Auto-reply is not compatible with iMessage or messages sent by third party services. Requires active AT&T Message Backup & Sync service. Data and text messaging rates will apply for download and usage. Technical, network and other service restrictions may apply. Visit att.com/drivemode for additional product details.

About AT&T

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) is a premier communications holding company and one of the most honored companies in the world. Its subsidiaries and affiliates – AT&T operating companies – are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and internationally. With a powerful array of network resources that includes the nation’s most reliable 4G LTE network, AT&T is a leading provider of wireless, Wi-Fi, high speed Internet, voice and cloud-based services. A leader in mobile Internet, AT&T also offers the best global wireless coverage, based on offering roaming in more countries than any other U.S. based carrier, and offers the most wireless phones that work in the most countries. It also offers advanced TV service with the AT&T U-verse® brand. The company’s suite of IP-based business communications services is one of the most advanced in the world.